Increases in jobs and in the overall labor force are signs of a strong and growing economy. Unfortunately, job gains are still not translating into strong, broad-based wage growth. Click here to view the full report

The Massachusetts minimum wage has failed to keep pace with changes in the cost of living over the past four decades, and it has fallen further and further behind the wage levels of higher-paid workers Read More

Some cities and towns have higher concentrations of the labor force employed in low-wage work than others. Raising the minimum wage would tend to have a greater impact in these areas, particularly since workers who receive wage increases are likely to spend a portion of those increases locally. Read More

2013 has come to a close, and while our state economy has continued to grow, the poverty rate remains stubbornly high and wages are still lower than they were before the "Great Recession." "The State of Working Massachusetts" presents a snapshot of economic conditions currently facing workers, along with some longer-term trends.